Our exhibitions: what’s waiting for you at the Library this spring?

Date: 10 October 2016

English writer Virginia Woolf once wrote: "Though we see the same world, we see it through different eyes". The same can be said for exhibitions - everyone comes to see the same exhibition but we all see and take something different away with us. This is the value of the exhibition experience - it may evoke an emotion, a memory, teach you something new, reinforce or influence a belief and the list goes on.

Our recent exhibitions proved to be very popular with visitors to the Library, including international tourists. Were you one of the 12,386 visitors who saw the stunning photographs of French photographer, Frédéric Mouchet? Some of you may have been lucky enough to meet Frédéric at one of his exhibition floor talks. The exhibition of work by internationally recognised Adelaide-based artist, Franz Kempf, attracted 5,219 visitors. Each one of these visitors saw the same exhibitions but they would have seen them through different eyes.

On display are a car tyre and the winning driver trophies from the 1990 Adelaide Grand Prix. Some visitors may be surprised to think we have these items in our collections, while others may remember the day they went to the race and saw Nelson Piquet cross over the line to win.

Likewise, our oldest artefact on display is a Mesopotamian clay tablet, dating back to circa 2400 - 2300 BC. Perhaps you're thinking how far we have come in terms of communicating written ideas or maybe you're surprised at how small it is.

Other items on display include a corset, a piece of hide from Governor Hindmarsh's cow, the Antiphonal manuscript book, a collection of camera equipment from the 19th and early 20th centuries, and many more of our favourite things.

The exhibition is on display until 5 February 2017 in the Treasures Wall, Institute Building and Mortlock Chamber. To help guide you through the exhibition, check out the exhibition map.

Upcoming exhibition - Nikon-Walkley Press Photography Exhibition

Opening mid-December the Nikon-Walkley Press Photography Exhibition will showcase the best photographic moments in sport, politics and daily life as captured by Australia's leading photojournalists in the past 12 months.

For the first time, we are hosting this prestigious exhibition which recognises the invaluable contribution of press photography to the Australian news media.

They say a photo is worth a thousand words and the photos on display in this exhibition are sure to speak volumes. The photos capture stories from our own backyards to the furthest corners of the globe.

An exhibition not to miss, it is on display from 15 December 2016 to 12 February 2017 in the Institute Building.